Toyota Auris Space Concept

Share.

Is this 5-door the next Corolla?

By Justin Kaehler

Toyota's Auris Space Concept isn't one of the most radical concepts we've seen, but we like it nonetheless. Looking very much like a nicer Vitz/Yaris, the Auris Space Concept was created to show off Toyota's new "Vibrant Clarity" design language. We don't know what Toyota means by "Vibrant Clarity", so we'll just go and assume that Toyota wants this design to be "vibrant" and "clear" - whatever that means.

The Auris Space Concept really shows off its Yaris roots when viewed from the front. In fact, it looks as if Toyota just slapped some aftermarket headlamps and a grille onto a Yaris and called the result a concept. There's really not too much to say about this car's looks, though we will say that the Auris Space Concept looks pretty good when viewed from the side. It almost looks tough. Not tough enough to impress anyone, but it certainly looks more manly than the Yaris.

We do like the Auris Space Concept's short overhangs, 19-inch wheels and prominent brake calipers. Perhaps if we saw this car with a TRD/Toyota racing livery we could appreciate this car's design just a bit more. Toyota could even throw a couple of "Vitz" stickers all over this five-door and it will look right at home competing in the Vitz Cup.

But the Auris Space Concept wasn't designed to be a drool-inducing exotic machine, it was designed as an interior space exercise for Toyota. Toyota claims that the Auris Space Concept was designed from the inside-out, which gives this compact a very inviting and comfortable cabin. Hell, we'll even go on record and say that the Auris Space Concept has the nicest interior Toyota's ever put into a non-Lexus-badged car.

First thing's first: much of the plastic used in this car looks like a magnification of a collection of plant cells, and we're still kind of "iffy" on it. The texture looks great in some of these photos, but when looked at as a whole, it almost looks like a cheap faux snakeskin wrap. However, considering that normally staid Toyota actually threw a bold design element into one of its compact cars, we kind of think it looks cool here. As we can't make up our mind about this plant cell dash, we'll move on.

Not only does the center console of the Auris Space Concept look great, it looks to be very production-ready. The nav unit looks just like the ones found in more upscale Toyotas, and the switches look as if they also came out of the Toyota parts bin. But for some reason, Toyota managed to place everything in a position that not only looks intuitive, it actually looks cool. Hop behind the wheel of the Auris Space Concept and one won't feel as if they are taking their mom's ride out for a night on the town. This dash seems so un-Toyota, we'd be shocked if this modern and youthful design made it into a U.S.-spec production car. However, we wouldn't be surprised if future Scion vehicles drew some inspiration from the Auris Space Concept's dash layout.

Other cool interior features found on the Auris Space Concept include a panoramic glass roof and a shifter and controls set up to a "perfect ergonomic height". Toyota claims that by setting all the important control bits up high, it can open up the lower part of the car, which is said to make the car feel more spacious.

With the Auris Space Concept being an interior design exercise, Toyota isn't giving any details about any kind of possible drive train or power plant. If we look closely at the shifter, we can see that this car uses a six-speed manual transmission, but that's about it. With the Auris classified as a C-segment car, we expect that the engine is a four-cylinder unit found in cars like the Corolla.

In fact, the rumor is that the Auris Space Concept is a look at the next-gen Corolla. Well, it's supposed to be a look at the next generation of European-spec Corolla, anyway. The next U.S.-spec Corolla's refresh was delayed a bit, so could the U.S.'s next Corolla be this five-door hatch? We sure as hell don't know.

While we ponder the future of the next Corolla, we'll be looking at more pictures of the Toyota Auris Space Concept. Join us by clicking on our Media Page, won't you?